Archive

Britains secret wars - Oman

Ian Cobain, The Guardian | 08 September 2016

For more than 100 years, Britain has been perpetually at war. Some conflicts, such as the Falklands, have become central to our national narrative, but others, including the brutal suppression of rebels in Oman, have been deliberately hidden

Murdered by the Glenanne gang: ‘Patrick lived till the ripe old age of 13’

British army 'covered up' UDR units links to UVF

thedetail.tv | 31 July 2011

The investigative website, The Detail, in co-operation with the Irish News, published a numbers of articles based on documents uncovered by the PFC at the National Archive in Kew. The declassified documents concern security investigations into loyalist infiltration of 10 UDR, the Belfast city Battal...

Army gun used in 12 murder bids: Downing Street concerns over leaks to Paisley / MPs misled over collusion

Steven McCaffery, Irish News | 03 May 2006

British prime ministers were aware of collusion between loyalist paramilitaries, soldiers and RUC officers - and believed security forces were "handing information to" Ian Paisley. Evidence of this is contained in dramatic documents that include minutes of a Whitehall meeting where Margaret Thatcher...

LOYALIST COLLUSION "TERRIBLE COVER-UP"

Steven McCaffery, Irish News | 12 May 2006

Documents confirming that the British government was aware of large-scale collusion between security forces and loyalists point to a “terrible cover-up”, an expert observer of the Troubles has said. During the worst years of violence Fr Raymond Murray worked with Mgr Denis Faul and Fr Brian Brady to...

Internment criteria letter

Arrest Policy for Protestants - Memo from MoD

At point 1 (apologies for the quality of the copy) reference is made to a meeting at Stormont Castle on November 29 1972 where the GOC (General Officer Commanding - the British army) was asked to "draft an arrest policy covering the UVF and other extreme loyalist elements, though not the UDA per se."

Subversion in the UDR and Annex E

De-proscription of unlawful organisations (added May 2018)

Declassified 1974 NIO discussion doc on de-proscription of UVF and Sinn Fein. The juxtaposition of Sinn Fein (as opposed to the IRA) with the UVF tells us much about British government attitudes to loyalist paramilitary organisations. At the time the UDA remained legal and it would be another 18 years before London finally accepted that the UFF was nothing more...

Weapons and Shooting Statistics (added May 2018)

Official memo on weapons seized on both sides of the border between 1969-1976 with a breakdown of types of weapons and a summary of key seizures. The information was supplied by the RUC Data Reference Centre which carried out intelligence analysis under the aegis of Special Branch. This February 1977 memo highlights the involvement of republican and loyalist organisations in...